23 July 1925
by ApteryxAustralis
Summary: Minister for Magic Lorcan McLaird finally meets a leader he can tolerate when he interrupts a meeting between the British Prime Minister and the President of the United States. Brief mention of the Gaunts and Riddles. One-Shot.


**23 July 1925**

The British Prime Minister paced in his office at 10 Downing Street. The American President was supposed to be arriving within a few minutes.

The Prime Minister walked downstairs where he greeted the American President before the two walked back upstairs to discuss modifications to the Washington Naval Treaty.

The pair sat down and began shooting ideas back and forth while the other torpedoed them in turn. The British Prime Minister turned away for a moment to reach his drink. He heard a cough.

"Would you like a handkerchief?" The British Prime Minister asked the President.

"No. Thank you."

"Does the weather not agree with you?"

"I did not cough."

"Pardon?"

"I believe that that picture coughed."

"Oh blast. It's him again."

"Who?"

"Accursed magicians," the Prime Minister mumbled.

"We had a magician for a president. I never was sure how he got by that law of theirs."

Suddenly, the picture of the ugly man began to speak, "I will arrive in one minute. McLaird."

"Yours gives you warnings?" The President questioned.

"Yours don't?"

"Ours walk in the door."

Suddenly a green flame appeared in the fireplace. The President of the United States jumped back a foot and tripped on an ottoman.

The British Minister for Magic walked out of the fireplace as the President stood up. The Minister for Magic nodded at the Prime Minister and then extended his hand to the President, who had stepped back to where he had been standing previously.

"Lorcan McLaird," the British Prime Minister said, introducing his country's Minster for Magic. Lorcan McLaird shook the Presidents hand and nodded in acknowledgement of the Prime Minister's remark. The Prime Minister then introduced the President to the Minister for Magic.

"I apologize for this, Mr. President," the British leader said to his American counterpart. The Prime Minister turned to McLaird and asked, "Does this have to do with the attack on the son of the right honourable Thomas Riddle?"

"Yes," McLaird replied tersely. McLaird then pulled out his wand and spelled, 'Sorry,' in midair using smoke from the tip of his wand.

The Prime Minister asked, "Has the perpetrator been dealt with?"

"Yes," McLaird said again. Smoky letters spelled out, 'Morfin Gaunt has been sent to prison.'

"Excellent. Sir Thomas will be delighted to hear," the Prime Minister said.

The President finally said, "If only our Secretary of Magic was as quiet as you."

McLaird nodded and wrote, 'This will be my last visit. I am being replaced.'

The American President began to take a liking to this Minister for Magic. His own, a man called Richard Quance, was an upjumped man who had no comprehension of how normal people lived nor how leaders should act. The President of the United States recalled nearly falling asleep during a meeting with Quance that ended up lasting five and a half hours.

"You should visit America," the President said.

"I will," McLaird replied. He then signed, 'Farewell,' in smoky letters. He turned and threw some kind of powder at the fireplace before walking straight into it.

Astonished, the Prime Minister said to the President, "You got him to say more than one syllable. I never got more than a 'yes' or a 'no' from that man for the last seven months and my whole first term in office."

The President looked at the Prime Minister and said, "You lose."

 **Notes:** When I read Lorcan McLaird's description on Pottermore, US President Calvin Coolidge immediately came to mind. (It appears that the Pottermore Wiki editors agree) Rowling wrote that McLaird served at the same time that Coolidge was President and I thought that the two would get along well. One of Coolidge's most famous statements was, "You lose," to a woman who had bet that she could get him to say more than two syllables at dinner.

US President Martin Van Buren was actually known as "The Little Magician."


End file.
